Hackers take over sentencing commission websiteUpdates with no immediate comment from the Justice Department. With AP Photos.

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The hacker-activist group Anonymous says it hijacked the website of the U.S. Sentencing Commission to avenge the death of Aaron Swartz, an Internet activist who committed suicide.

The website of the commission, an independent agency of the judicial branch, was taken over early Saturday and replaced with a message warning that when Swartz killed himself two weeks ago “a line was crossed.”

The hackers say they've infiltrated several government computer systems and copied secret information that they now threaten to make public.

Family and friends of Swartz, who helped create Reddit and RSS, say he killed himself after he was hounded by federal prosecutors.

Officials say he helped post millions of court documents for free online and that he illegally downloaded millions of academic articles from an online clearinghouse.

The Justice Department had no immediate comment Saturday.

Iowa senator won't seek re-election

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who championed landmark legislation banning discrimination against people with disabilities, said Saturday he would retire and not seek re-election to a sixth term.

The announcement from Harkin, 73, sets the stage for one of the most competitive Senate races in the country next year. It will be a key battleground for Republicans.

“To walk away from this position and this power is not an easy thing,” Harkin told The Des Moines Register on Saturday. “But I think it's the right thing. And I have two years left. I'm not passing the torch sitting down, it's a running relay. I intend to be very active over the next two years.”

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